Oh so cultured

In the last month, I've been to the Seattle Center's McCaw Hall twice (thrice if you go back to New Year's Ever where I watched the fireworks). Once for the opera, the Barber of Seville, and again for the ballet, Cinderella.

I am AMAZED at how people can manipulate their bodies and voices to make something beautiful and somehow make it look SO EASY. Some (and by some I mostly mean my brothers) will argue the value of dance and stage performance as a powerful medium of art or expression, but after this month's reminder, I'm sold. How it is that you can feel Cinderella's pain as she twirls and sways is beyond me. How you can root so hard for the Count to get his girl when you can't understand Italian makes no sense. Somewhere on those inexplainable airwaves of understanding, the audience just gets it. It's a higher price tag than the av-er-age night out but well worth the event.


(Bugs Bunny's got nothin on this)

(Pay no attention to slipper squeaking, Cinderella's overbite or Prince Charming's oh-so-spandexed behind)


In an entirely different vein, but in the same neighborhood (the King Cat Theater [thank you thank you thank you for passing up the surely tempting alliteration possibility there], I also attended Ignite Seattle. The tagline reads: Enlighten us, but make it quick! and is just that: a night of speakers who present 5 minute speeches about... anything. It's a super nerd fest, but only the best kind of nerds (i.e. my kind) because attendees are people who love to learn about... anything. The Art of Karaoke, The Benefits of House Sharing, The Guy Who Impersonated Neil Patrick Harris on Twitter, Geo-tagged Photos and Their Presence Online, Open-Sourced Participation in Local Politics. The list goes on.
Here's an old one:

You get the idea. Geeked Out. But so great!